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Symphony for the Common Man

An American at home and a Russian abroad meet homegrown talent.

Andrew Ford's celebratory Headlong, written for the SSO's 75th birthday in 2007, is a display of orchestral possibility in which every instrument has a chance to shine. Then Benjamin Northey is joined onstage by fellow Australian Simon Tedeschi for Rachmaninoff's Fourth Concerto. It took the composer nearly 30 years to finish but the result was full of fresh vitality and virtuoso confidence: a Romantic voice speaking to the modern age. Soon after, Copland broke the mould of his popular ballet scores (Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid) and set out to write the Great American Symphony. Leonard Bernstein described Copland's Third as 'an American monument, like the Washington Monument, or the Lincoln Memorial'. It reflects the heroism and optimism of the 1940s, and its quotation of the Fanfare for the Common Man signals it as music that speaks to and for all people.

Pre-concert talk by composer Andrew Ford in the Northern Foyer 45 minutes before each performance (Wednesday and Saturday only).

The concert will conlude at approximately 8.25pm (Wed), 12:20pm (Fri), 3.55pm (Sat).